Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, said sources.
However, on March 18, the 37-year-old left-handed batsman stated that he has not thought about joining politics.
"I have not thought about it, I just want to do something good for the society and my foundation is already doing that," Gambhir had told ANI.
Gambhir, who was awarded Padma Shri, was instrumental in India's World Cup winning squads. The batsman played match-winning knocks in the T20 World Cup final in 2007 and 50 over World Cup in 2011.
The left-handed batsman announced his retirement in the year 2018 after completing 10,000 runs in List-A cricket.
This development of him joining the politics comes a day after BJP released its first list of 185 candidates on Thursday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections beginning April 11 and concluding on May 19.
The counting of votes will take place on May 23.